


Heartless

by CountessBorel



Series: Party at the Horse Gang FC House [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, character injury, i made myself so sad, wol/wol - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CountessBorel/pseuds/CountessBorel
Summary: It was him or Peachy. Of course Rowen chose the latter.
Relationships: Rowen Ashryver/Peachy Dreams
Series: Party at the Horse Gang FC House [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988452
Kudos: 2





	Heartless

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Birdy, please don't harm me I love you. 
> 
> We're back again boys with another WoL/WoL fic because I have a problem and I'm IN LOVE with mine and my friends WoL's okay.

If Rowen was certain about one thing, it was that he did not like fighting with people that he cared about. Not that he thought them incapable, no it was much the opposite, he found them quite capable. That’s what scared him, they never stayed near. Most of the time, Rowen deigned to heal, ensuring that he was within close proximity of them at all times, always able to make sure that they never fell. This particular mission required more strength that normal however, Alphinaud and Urianger had convinced him to do something else, they would both come along to ensure the safety of everyone. Both of them knowing full well how antsy Rowen could be if he could not protect the ones he cared about. 

To the Scions it was both endearing and utterly frustrating. Rowen had always been their strongest, yet most of the time he went in with as little fighting power as one could manage and always walked away victorious. Even against Primals. Thancred has gotten into a yelling match with Rowen about it one day, trying to convince him to go in as anything else, use his black magic, absolutely anything other than his healing magic. Rowen stubborn and thick headed as ever and absolutely eloquent with words, flicked off Thancred and pulled out his globe. Giving no response as he teleported to the battle and back in without a scratch. 

The twins had laughed about it for weeks, taunting Thancred every time they went into battle. Rowen paid them no mind and did not dare intervene. He had been on the receiving end of those two one too many times to even bother trying to get them to stop. Not to mention everyone knew they did it out of lighthearted fun. It took a lot of convincing for Rowen to put down his healing magic and use something else. Thought a perk, that he had near perfected all types of battle, he rarely used it. Many of the Scions had questioned it with each other, but never came directly to Rowen about it. 

He was still nearly just as mysterious as he was the day that he came to them. Most knew little about his past, though many could assume that his utter obsession to protect had something to do with that. For the most part, they could get him to do it with a little effort. Then Peachy came into the picture, and then they got married. The news came both as a shock and not at the same time. All knew that Rowen had been fiercely protective of Peachy since nearly day one. He had been head over heels for him for just as long. Marriage to most of them was not something they thought about, either because they were too young or they were fearful of the repercussions of their death, what have you. Most assumed Rowen to be of the same state, yet they had shocked them all. 

Then again, none of them had seen him happier than his wedding day. That wedding really just solidified Rowen’s need to protect, to heal, to care. It was a complete 180 from how he used to be, and it gave most of them whiplash, right now though, they knew that Rowen was absolutely beating himself up, at least mentally. They had just gotten back from the First not too long ago, G’raha had joined their party, and now the Garleans were moving quicker than they had assumed they would. They’d heard rumor of an attack in the Shroud and went to investigate, unfortunately that rumor was true, and they were called to action. 

Rowen was still obviously exhausted from his previous trials, barely had a moments rest before picking up his sword to fight. They watched as Peachy gave Rowen a kiss on the cheek and bounded to the other side of the field, near out of Rowen’s sight. Urianger noticed Rowen’s tell-tale mannerisms and quickly ran near Peachy, getting Rowen’s attention, letting him know that yes, everything would be alright. Rowen just shook his head and went forth, the clash of steel distracting him for a while, though it was never too long before he glanced at the field, keeping stock of his allies, moving to those that might need support. They always wondered how he was such a brilliant tactician, how he managed to keep the locations of just about everyone in mind, ensuring that one was not without for too long. “Rowen watch out!” Thancred called from across the field, gunblade pointing at the very large magitek headed his way. Rowen nodded and went forth, clearing the enemies in front of him to focus on the battle about to start. 

The field was winding down, they were making quick work of the Garleans, it wasn’t a well thought out battle on their part, something that they would have to examine later. Why fight if they knew there was no way they could win? They would figure that one out later. Rowen caught the attention of the Magitek, sword slamming onto the hull, doing nothing more than make a loud thud. A few moments later a certain blue haired Miqo’te bounded next to him, lance grinding into the joint of the magitek, cause it to slow a little. “Thought you might want a little help with big guy here.” 

Rowen smirked, he really did hate when his allies had to fight, but there was a part of him that enjoyed the witty battlefield banter, especially when that banter came from the man that he was so incredibly in love with. “I could have managed on my own, but now that you are here, I suppose I’ll let you help me.” Peachy just shook his head and pointed to Rowen’s arm. Rowen extended it, allowing Peachy to jump on as he helped launch him to the top of the Magitek. It was taller than most, and a Dragoon’s jump height just missed the top, so of course they had a strategy. Fighting side by side for many battles allowed that sort of thing. Verbal communication was rarely necessary, it was easy to tell what the other wanted. 

“Let me know if you need a shield. I can’t see you well up there and I don’t trust this things tail.” Rowen shouted as he jumped back, just barely escaping a metal claw tearing down the front of his chest. “Mayhap you should watch yourself dear one, I don’t have claws coming after me.” Their banter went on for a while after that. They were making some progress on this thing, but it was clear to the both of them that the Garleans had really upped their Magitek skills since their last battle. Which honestly didn’t seem that long, but there was a certain former Azure Dragoon running around with an Ex Garlean commander that seemed to be putting pressure on them. While Rowen was grateful for it, he did not enjoy the fact that it caused them to create even stronger forms of fighting. Really it was more annoying that anything. 

Fortunately, the chaos around them started to subside and the others were slowly able to join in. They were wearing the magitek down, but it was taking too long, it was going to enrage before long. At the very least that was one thing that they could count on the Garleans for, they always put some sort of enrage timer on their magitek. “Hey darling, I think it would be best for you to get off soon. If we don’t finish him off soon, you know what’s gonna happen.” Rowen looked around to the rest of them who nodded, Alphinaud and Urianger already heading back a distance, ready to pull who they needed out of harms way. Rowen looked up to see Peachy poking his head over to look down. “We got this babe, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” 

Rowen just shook his head, going back to working on getting the Magitek down. It was only a few minutes before the telltale sign started to show. Rowen shouted a warning, the others backing up. “Peachy! Get down now. It’s starting.” He heard Peachy grunt, cursing. “My lance is stuck, give me a second!” Rowen heard the others call out to them; he wasn’t leaving until he knew Peachy was safe. A few moments later he heard a shout and Peachy backflipping down next to him. The unfortunate thing about coming across a new magitek armor was not knowing exactly how long the enrage timer was, and how long they had before all hell broke loose. Rowen grabbed Peachy’s arm as he booked it out, glancing back only to find out that they were not going to make it. He let go of Peachy, pulling his sword from his back. “Run Peachy!” Swiping low he came back towards the front as a circle of words surrounded him, thrusting his sword towards the sky he let loose a small smile as a barrier surrounded Peachy. At the very least whether Peachy stayed or ran, he knew he would be safe. He could see from the corner of his eye Alphinaud trying to rescue him, but the distance was too great. In the matter of moments, the Magitek had run up on them, tail soaring high into the sky as it came down, piercing Rowen through the back before it crushed him into the ground. 

Peachy screamed. Anger, pure unadulterated anger poured from him, he tuned out the others calling to him, screaming for him to retreat. All he felt was power flowing through his veins, very rarely did he call upon the other gifts that the echo granted him, very rarely could he even muster up the power to do so. He let out a growl, lance in his hands as a bright blue dragon appeared above him. With a yell he leaped, boring down on the magitek armor, blue flames engulfing them both as his lance went directly through him. The magitek armor grinded to a halt, it’s body tipping over, revealing the crater it created. Peachy landed back onto the ground and ran towards Rowen, skidding on his knees the last part of the way. 

“Rowen oh god.” By some miracle Rowen seemed to be in one piece, minus the gaping hole in his chest. “Please no, Rowen, come on you have to wake up.” Frantic, that was the only word to describe Peachy at the moment. As gently as he could he turned Rowen over onto his back, he needed to see his face, needed to know if he was still alive. How could he be though, how could anyone be after that? He leaned over him, placing a hand on Rowen’s cheek, leaning down until their foreheads touched. “Please my love, you have to hold on. By the twelve you have to live.” A few moments later the others crowded around, Urianger and Alphinaud taking stock of Rowen, their faces were grim, but they tried not to show it. “We need to get him to Gridania, to the Conjurers guild, they can help us. G’raha can you help us as well?” G’raha Tia nodded, eyes sullen as he glanced towards Peachy and Rowen. “Of course. I can teleport us both there, Urianger and Alphinaud you two go on ahead and let them know what has happened.” Peachy shook, tears streaming down his face. 

“You have to help him, you have to save him! I don’t care what you must do, please, please save him.” Peachy was latching onto Rowen like he was a lifeline. Alisaie kneeled next to him, gently prying his hands away. “Peachy you must let go, they cannot depart if you are holding onto him. I know it must be hard, trust them.” The look in Peachy’s eyes sent a wave of conviction across the group, even if they were going to already they would do anything to save him, that much was clear, cemented in all of their minds. Once Peachy finally let go, Alisaie gently took his hands, nodding to G’raha Tia, in a flash the two of them were gone, leaving the four of them alone. Alisaie looked up to Y’shtola, voice quiet as she spoke. “Can you ensure that the rest of the army is alright. Let the commander know where we’ve gone, perhaps not the details, but let him know it was urgent. I’ll take Peachy back to his apartment to get cleaned up, we’ll meet the rest of you all in Gridania. I suppose we should let Tataru know, Thancred do you mind informing her?” The two of them nodded, Y’shtola heading off towards the commander’s tent as Thancred teleported away to let Tataru in on the news. It took some coaxing but eventually Alisaie managed to get Peachy up, the two of them teleporting towards his apartment. It wasn’t long before Peachy had bathed and changed, going through the motions rather robotically. Locking out any emotions for now. Within a bell the two of them had made it to Gridania, walking into the Conjurers guild. The air around them was somber, everyone within must of already known what was going on. Thancred and Y’shtola sat near a small table, tea untouched and growing cold. Alisaie steered Peachy towards the table, letting him take a set before speaking. 

“Any news?”   
“Nay. They’ve had him in a back room for a while now. Kan-E-Senna came rushing through here some time ago, presumably to help. I let Tataru know, as expected she didn’t take it well but she’s going to hold the fort until our return. If anything dire were to occur she’d let us know, but until then we have our space.” 

Peachy wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that, no news was good news he supposed, but it wasn’t the new he wanted to hear. God Rowen was such an idiotic man, though he supposed he would expect nothing less from him. He’d protected him, Rowen was willing to give his life to save him and now here they were. It hurt, it hurt knowing that Rowen was in there, it hurt to not know whether he was alive or not. He’d never get that image out of his mind. Rowen’s smile before the tail pierced through his chest. For a moment there he couldn’t believe it had happened, for a moment there he thought it all a bad dream. But Rowen went down, and all he could do was scream. Peachy honestly blacked out for a moment after that, the next thing he knew, he was looking down at Rowen’s body, in one piece but barely. Thinking about it caused his chest to constrict, his breath coming in labored. Now sitting here waiting was agony, and it hit him all at once. 

Peachy curled in on himself, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed, finally letting whatever emotions he withheld to come through. Y’shtola, Thancred, and Alisaie were up and surrounding him within a moment, hands placed for comfort, but no words were shared. Alisaie pulled Peachy in for a hug, letting the other cling to her as he cried. The others finally allowed themselves a moment of sorrow, the tears quite as the huddled around each other, trying to find some semblance of piece. Peachy ended up crying himself to sleep, the other healers there thankfully allowing them a bed to place him in as they waited. Too much time passed before they heard word. G’raha Tia entered the room they were all in several bell’s later looking exhausted. His eyes softened a touch when he noticed Peachy asleep on the bed, his voice quiet as he spoke. 

“There is not much I can say other than we have closed the wound. Even with the help of Kan-E-Senna we aren’t sure the state of him at the moment. He’s alive, but barely, if he makes it through the night, he might live, but even then it’s a hard call to make.” The others stayed quiet for a moment while they absorbed what they just heard. The three of them glancing to Peachy on the bed, all of them knowing this was going to be the hardest for him. Y’shtola stood, looking towards G’raha. “Am I to assume we can see him?” G’raha nodded, waiting for them to wake Peachy up before he led them into the room they were keeping Rowen in. “The healers don’t want us to stay, but I already told them that one of us won’t leave his side. They’ll allow it. Urianger and Alphinaud have already gone down to the inn to get us rooms, they will meet us there once we’re done here.” 

On the walk to Rowen’s room G’raha explained everything to Peachy, the other just staying quiet through it all. He was still exhausted from crying, still exhausted from the worry. No one could have held him down as he rushed to Rowen’s side, hands hovering over him before finally resting on his arm. Thancred pulled a chair over for Peachy to sit in, Peachy quietly thanking him. After a while Thancred, G’raha, Y’shtola, and Alisaie bid their farewells. Letting Peachy know they would return in the morning and pleading him to get some sleep. Peachy didn’t say anything back, couldn’t for fear of breaking down again. Rowen look so pale, more so than he already was. His breathing was still shallow, his face occasionally scrunching up in pain. After a while he climbed on up on the bed, carefully climbing over him as he straddled him, hovering so not to place pressure on him. 

“You are absolutely stupid do you know that? So damn stupid. Why, why would you do that? Why use the shield on me? Fuck Rowen, I know why you did but wasn’t there something you could have done to save yourself?” Peachy placed a hand on his cheek as he kissed him lightly on the forehead, whining as he felt how cool Rowen was. By nature, Rowen was cold, but never this cold, it scared him, more than anything. They’d been able to close the wound for the most part, but he had lost a lot of blood, and it took more time than it should have been to get the wound closed. Any normal man would have died instantly, but they all knew they weren’t working with normal. Peachy stayed like that for a while until his legs grew tired, carefully curling up next to him, holding Rowen’s arm as he let exhaustion take over him once more. 

Rowen slept for a week before he even showed and sign of waking. There were several scares in between, several times where one of the scions would have to hold Peachy back as one of their own, or one of the healers rushed to work on him. Emotions were tense between all of them, Rowen had managed to make it through the first night, but as G’raha had mentioned earlier, that really didn’t mean much. Peachy was there every single time Rowen’s heart stopped, he was there through every minute of Rowen screaming in pain. Peachy was barely holding himself together. There were several times someone had to physically drag him out of the room and sedate him in some way just to get him to calm down, to force him to rest. 

By moon’s end Rowen’s color started to return, his breath start to even out. Kan-E-Senna had come in to check on him and said that hope was beginning to return, she didn’t know how but Rowen had a chance to wake again. She had also turned to Peachy, ordering him to leave, to eat, to get some other sort of air besides this room. The Scions were grateful, in all honesty they might have been a little to fearful of telling Peachy that themselves. With that sliver of hope implanted in all of them, they all had gone out that night, as a sort of release from the fear they were all holding. Peachy while still upset, was able to smile a little more, and the rest of them were all just grateful that he was eating something on his own, besides what food they managed to bring into the guild for him. 

Their return to the guild was met with an air of hope, it didn’t feel nearly as dark as it had before. They quieted down a touch as they opened the door, only to be met with Rowen, propped up on the bed by several pillows and a book in hand. Peachy made an indistinguishable noise before running what little distance to the bed and grabbing Rowen’s face with a little more force that intended. Rowen winced as it jostled his body, but smiled, nonetheless. “Hi.” Honestly none of them were sure if Peachy was going to hit him or kiss him, but a breath was let loose when Peachy leaned in for a kiss, holding on to Rowen for dear life. 

“If you ever, ever thing of doing something like this again, I will kill you myself.” Rowen chuckled, setting the book down as he let Peachy curl up in his lap, guiding him gently so he wouldn’t hit his wound. “I make no promises love. I’m sorry I scared you, but at that moment my only goal was seeing you safe.” Peachy just frowned as he looked towards Rowen, letting the others come in to talk to him, he would have plenty of time later to gripe at Rowen about the carelessness he had towards his own life. Night had well and truly fallen when the other’s left, leaving Peachy and Rowen alone again. Rowen was gently carding his fingers through Peachy’s hair when the other spoke up. 

“I know why you did it, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I… I was so scared I was going to lose you. When I saw you for the first time, I don’t… I thought it was over. Rowen please, for my sake, if something like that were to occur again, let me help you, we both could have made our way out of that situation if you had not let go when you did.” Rowen looked away, eyes focusing on nothing as he spoke. “We didn’t have that time Peachy, there was no time left. This was new armor and when I looked back I knew one of us was going down, and I wasn’t going to let it be you. I love you too much to let something happen to you. And I know, you love me as well, but this is how it’s just going to be. Perhaps next time though, if you lance get’s stuck just leave it?” 

Peachy grumbled, getting up and bringing Rowen’s face towards him, placing his forehead gently on the others. “Let there not be a next time Rowen. I know our vows said that we are each other’s partners in life and in death, but I much prefer you alive. Who am I to wake to every morning if you’re gone? Who am I to make fun of? I can’t lose you; I won’t lose you. So, let there not be a next time.” 

Rowen looked into Peachy’s eyes, those same eyes that he got lost in every time he looked. “Very well.” Rowen closed the short distance between them, kissing Peachy gently, letting him know exactly how much he loved him.   



End file.
